“Arabic Language Day” was held on Tuesday, May 23, in the Knesset at the initiative of Hadash MK Youssef Jabarin (Joint List). During a parliamentary committee session devoted to the availability of Arabic-language pages in Israel’s official government websites, it was reported that half of these sites are either not translated into Arabic or fail to post tenders or other announcements in Arabic, despite a decision by the cabinet over a decade ago to fully translate all such websites.
MKs Dov Khenin and Yousef Jabareen greeted by Attorney Mudar Younis (center), Head of the Ar’ara Municipality, during a visit by the legislators earlier this month to the Wadi Ara region of the country. (Photo: Al Ittihad)
According to a recent study by the Knesset Research and Information Center, 30% of government ministry websites have no information at all in Arabic, while 25% do not post tenders, calls for proposals, available jobs or other announcements in Arabic. Some 20% of governmental websites don’t offer a “Contact us” option in Arabic, one of Israel’s two official languages.
The websites of seven ministries – Immigrant Absorption, Defense, Religious Affairs, Social Affairs and Services, Development of the Negev and Galilee, Communications, and Tourism – have absolutely no information in Arabic, as is also the case for the website of the Civil Service Commission.
The study by the information center was conducted last month. It examined the websites of 24 ministries and seven other governmental agencies: the main governmental web portal, the Knesset, the State Comptroller’s Office, the Civil Service Commission, and the Equal Opportunities Commission for the Disabled (an agency of the Ministry of Justice), the Israel Police and the National Insurance Institute.
The study examined a number of parameters for each website; among them were whether: (1) an Arabic “button” appears at the top of the page; (2) the homepage and general information about the ministry can be viewed in Arabic; (3) online complaints can be submitted in Arabic or at least instructions on how to submit a complaint in Arabic are given; (4) Arabic language pages are provided for making payments, submitting forms, etc.
The study found that 11 websites – including those of the ministries of Finance, Economy, Interior, and Education, as well as that of the Israel Police – had no Arabic-language forms or at least a link in Arabic to such forms, meaning that citizens whose sole language is Arabic cannot access and fill out forms online. Ten ministry websites provide no services at all in Arabic.
Accessibility of online information and services in Arabic was reviewed by the State Comptroller’s Office back in 2002. At that time it was found that most government websites offered absolutely no information or services in Arabic. As a result, the cabinet decided that, starting from fiscal year 2004, all government websites would offer information in Hebrew and Arabic, as well as other languages as needed. In recent years Hadash MK Dov Khenin (Joint List) submitted a bill to implement this decision, however until now no legislation has been passed to make this mandatory.
